Grateful for your reply. As we live in London and this cruise leaves from and returns to Southampton so there is no flying. It's 4 of us and the saving is well over £1k.Please advise what things that I need to be wary of.Would appreciate your input.

Hello The McNeills....The chances of something going wrong are lessened by using a reputable agent and as already suggested vacations to go are good. The main problems arise when there are snags with your booking and plans have to be changed. Should an agent goes under or get into difficulty as you have far less in guarantees. Contacting them can also be difficult at times or expensive and tickets can sometimes present a problem. The British agents are better aware of situations peculiar to our rules and regulations. US agents, however, sometimes have the option to reduce the cruise price following a lower price being offered by the cruise line, this does apply to all cruise lines and this seldom happens here. If the price difference is as you say, i.e. £250 per person, this is not a huge amount to find off here as well and sometimes a little bargaining is required in order to get the price you want. If you look around you may even better it, failing that go ahead and enjoy....Heathe.

Many thanks Heather for your good advise and thank you Aldrich for advising the good agent. I should try my best to get the best price. Not easy to finance the whole trip for all 4 adults. My in-laws love wine.